Top 5 Favorite Hotels 2010-2020: #3: Azur Palace, Split, Croatia

The only hotel on this short list of favorite hotels during my decade of incessant international travel is found in Split, Croatia: the awesome Azur Palace.

The Azur Palace was brand new the first time I stayed there in September 2014. It was so new that it wasn't even completely done the first time there. Only about 15 or 16 rooms, all on the first floor, were finished.

Even in a partially-open state, the place was amazing. The rooms were large. The sound-proofing between rooms and the with the hallway was the absolute best I've seen (heard, actually). And it had a fantastic coffee/espresso/cappuccino machine in the hallway available 24 hours a day. This was in lieu of offering a breakfast, which the hotel owner promised would be ready "the next time" we were in Split.

Amazingly enough, five years and one month later, there was a "next time".

October 2019. Another trip to Split. There was no hesitation to book another stay at the Azur Palace. And the hotel was a little bigger and even a little better, although (sadly) the coffee/espresso/cappuccino machine was retired now that a buffet breakfast was available.

The Azur Palace has comfortable, quiet, and large rooms. The staff was small, but extremely professional and very helpful. It is located off a quiet, very narrow (how narrow? barely the width of car) side street, but it is very near the Old City area of Split, just inland from Diocletian's Palace (the Old City is basically the remnants of the Dalmatian-born Roman Emperor's retirement palace. And it was only about two blocks from Froggyland:

Two times to Split. Two times staying at the Azur Palace. Two times visiting the wonders of Froggyland. (What is Froggyland? Only one of the greatest attractions the world has to offer. Over 500 taxidermy frogs posed in human-like scenes. I showed a picture -- the courtroom scene was particularly memorable -- but no photos inside are allowed. Froggyland must be experienced in person.)

Night Time in Split

Diocletian's Palace in Split.  Under a Super Moon.

As sometimes happens in very old cities in Europe, our hotel was located off a side street off a side street that both looked like pedestrian alleyways.  After missing the turn down the first pedestrian alley we were supposed to turn down and going way too far and circling back, we finally decided to call the hotel for directions.

The desk clerk asked us where we were.  I could not be any more specific than Split, seeing as the town was wholly lacking in street signage (which is an endemic problem in Croatia).  We finally parked in front of the Hotel Cornaro, which I was guessing was near our hotel, the Azur Palace.  The desk clerk said for us to stay put and that he would be there in one minute.  I told him that we were in the Ford Focus (which, incidentally, Dollar Rent-a-Car of Croatia labels a "mid-size.")

15 seconds he is at the car, directing us which alleyways to turn down.  Now that is personal service!

My room in the Azur Palace

My bathroom in the Azur Palace

The hotel has only been open since June.  The place is an interesting combination of European modern and old historic.  By European standards the rooms are huge.  I would highly recommend for your next visit to Split.

We were quite hungry, seeing as it had been several hours since our blintz snack in Petrovina.  We ended up at a wine bar.

Bokeria

The Bokeria Mediterranean Restaurant & Wine Bar:

The forecast was accurate

We had the Deli Platter for Two for three and an octopus salad.

Prsut is at the center of the Deli Platter for Two. As it should be!

In Split, they do not know how to make an Octopus Salad.  In Dubrovnik, and in Lake Bled, Slovenia, they do.  There, it is tender and mild (like the Baby Jesus) with just a little olive oil.  In Split, it is swimming in olive oil, which is not the problem.  It's also got chickpeas, garbanzos, whatever you call them, they are not good and they do not belong in an octopus salad.

Pass on the Split version of the Octopus Salad unless you see a place that advertises if as "Chickpea Free"

We then went for a walk around the neighborhood of our hotel in the old town section of Split, in the shadow of Diocletian's Palace:

I took more pictures but they really didn't turn out since it was night and I don't have steady enough aim to photograph well in dim light.

So stay tuned tomorrow for another episode of My Trip to Croatia II: the First of Hopefully Many Sequels.